Prophet comes to Winnipeg!!!!

August 20, 2018

What an exciting week with President Nelson and his wife coming to Winnipeg. They were also joined by Elder Anderson of the quorum of the 12 and his wife and Elder Craig (my previous mission president) came too!! Such a wonderful experience. We got to be ushers for it and were handing out some reminder cards as people walked in. I got to see members from warroad and regina (my past two areas so that was really neat!) Unfortunately I didnt get to meet the prophet or shake his hand:( But his words were still amazing! We had someone from mormonnewsroom taking pictures of us ushering and after me and my companions got interviewed by a winnipeg newspaper reporter so that was our claim to fame:) 

All of the messages sharing were so inpspiring. Sister Anderson talked about how we need to try to be more like Jesus Christ. and about the topical guide study president nelson challenged us to do a while back. it was fitting because i finished it just this week! Elder Anderson talked about how important the gathering of israel. He said something along the lines of "The Lord didnt say it would be numerous but he did say it would be everywhere!" Sister Nelson talked about when the Prophet was called and her experience. And how he receives revelation. That was really cool and it made me want to be more in tune with the spirit to recognize when I am receiving revelation. President Nelson talked a lot about the temple! Very fitting with the temple finally beginning to be built here. Some of the things he talked about were how "If we are going to build a temple here than it is important that we build a people for the temple--a holy people." we must prepare and build ourselves. He talked about how temple recommend interviews are meaningful dress rehearsals for when we will stand before our Heavenly Father. He said, "Keeping a covenant with God is protective, enabling, and elevating." and "The eternal perspective we receive in the temple gives us the strength to endure all the trials of life." Those were just a few of the many things I picked out from his message. It was so wonderful!! 

As for other things that happened this week.. 

We had interviews with President Hitchcock, what an inspiring man!! Also the Hitchcock's told me that they found out this week that their best friends back home went to high school with my parents! What a small world! 

We also had exchanges with the YSA sisters. I went with sister bailey! She actually lived in North Logan for a year before she came out in may and we know a lot of  the same people. Both of our dads work in dentistry.. we are practically twins! I love her and learned so much from her! I hope to be here companion someday!! If not then we will definitely be best friends at USU, along with all of my other companions haha. 

While on exchanges we ran into the Hitchcocks. We talked to them for a bit and president was telling us that if each companionship can get 5 people at church each week then each companionship will baptize one person every month and we can reach our yearly goal. You will never guess how many people we had at church this week!? 6 people!!!! That is a record. and all of them were chinese! We had a family from Hong Kong visit and bring their non member son who is moving here for school next week. They were baptized almost a year ago and are getting sealed next month in the Hong Kong temple. I have grown to love the people from China so much! They are the greatest. 

Yesterday we were going to stop by a family that we tracted into on saturday evening and they told us to come back sunday. As we got out of our car we saw two girls walking towards us. We went up to talk to them and had a short discussion and then they invited us to go to their house for a lesson. They are the cutest people and from Nigeria! Their names are Brenda and Blessing and they are so prepared!! The lord put us in the right place at the right time and it was so cool! 

That's about all for this week! I look forward to another miracle filled week!! Love you all!! 

Love, Sister Godderidge

lots and lots of pictures. i dont remember what they all are:

Minus 40, plus 40

August 13. 2018

Hello family and friends!! This email is going to be very random but we had lots of just fun things happen this week I want to tell you all about! 

First off, it was very very hot and humid this week. It's so crazy that it can get to be minus 40 in the winter and then plus 40 in the summer.. which is like 100+ in farenheit. We were very hot this week!! 

We had a crazy experience.. one night we were driving back to our apartment and there was a guy walking across the street. He was having a hard time and using some crutches but also trying to hurry because there were cars coming on both sides. All of the sudden he fell in the middle of the street. We all gasped and stopped the car in the middle of the road. Sister gatten and sister nauna jumped out and I didnt know what to do. There were cars coming behind so I had to drive down the street a little bit, park and go find my companions. It was crazy. But everyone made it out alive!! 

We also taught a lesson to the family from taiwan this week who just got baptized a few months ago. We found out that their 10 year old daughter hasnt been baptized so we will hopefully get to teach her!! She doesnt know any english but we have lots of experience with that!!

Yesterday at church I just realized how cool canada really is!! In our ward alone we have people attending from.. Canada, America, Sudan, Taiwan, Brazil, Nigeria, Philippines, Mexico, Germany, China, Guatemala, Colombia, Honduras, Dominican Republic, and with Sister Nauna Papua New Guinea.. I am serving an international mission!! it is the greatest! 

We also went on exchanges with the St James Sisters and I went with Sister Foulger. She is the cutest! Her sister is actually an ambassador at USU! small world! We have been trained a lot on finding this week and were supposed to think of at least one creative way to find during our exchange. We decided to go to walmart and offer service putting carts away/groceries into cars and have that lead to a teaching opportunity. It was a bit different but good to switch things up!! 

We also talked to a lady on the street about family history and I got to show her my family fan chart. She thought it was the coolest thing ever! 

We also met this man while leaving a members apartment one day. He rode the elevator with us and asked us if we were in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Then we walked into the main floor lobby and he motioned for us to follow him. He sat down at the piano that was there and started playing hymns that he knew. Lots of them we didnt know but we tried to sing along to some!! That was super cool!! He was very very talented on the piano! 

Dr. Godderidge will be proud of me for this.. I was flossing my teeth one night and sister nauna looking at me like i was crazy.. She said, "Sister Godderidge what are you doing?" I replied, "I am flossing, do you know what that is?" She said no so then I taught her how to do it!! 

The Prophet comes to winnipeg this week and we are so excited!! we found out yesterday that the MLC gets to be ushers for it!!!!!!! So I will tell you all about that next week! 

I love this quote from President Monson!! " Our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small of insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives." 

Love, Sister Godderidge

Teaching sister nauna how to floss

exchanges with sister foulger! We also matched: )

matching floral dresses... we did not even plan it!!

Chinese group that does tai chi in the church parking lot.. I probably spelled that wrong. 

what e're thou art, act thy part.

August 6, 2018

Hello family!! What a crazy week it has been. We have been pretty busy with lots of things going on which is great! 

We had zone conference this week and it was so good! Sister gatten and I gave a portion and trained on helping people make commitments. We used "bump, set spike it again", I think everyone enjoyed it! I am glad its over!! We also had MLC at the end of the week and got lots of good training from President and sister hitchcock. 

We had a really good lesson with Liu, one of the chinese ladies we are teaching. We were not able to get a translator so we did the whole thing over google translate and the spirit was so strong. It was pretty amazing. She really felt the spirit when we told her she would see her family members again in the spirit world. It was the best!! It's a bit of a struggle trying to teach someone who doesnt know english with someone who doesnt know english very well. We are making it work though!! 

We saw a huge miracle yesterday!! We showed up to church and were talking to people when I saw a family with a mom and 3 kids walk in that I didnt recognize. Right before the meeting started I decided to go over and talk to them to see if they were just visiting. Turns out they live right next to the church and decided to come and see what it was like!! The kids really loved it and so did the mom!! The only bummer is that they live in the other area so we will have to pass them to the elders but everything works out for a reason!! It was still cool. Her name was Salewa and she just moved here from Nigeria. It was also just perfect because we had a lady who was visiting from Nigeria and showed up at our sacrament so they were able to be friends. It's the best. Missions are the greatest! 

At zone conference we had someone from salt lake visiting to train us on something new they are doing with the cars. He said something that stood out to me!!.. He shared a quote from David O McKay,, "What E're Thou Art, act thy part" He then talked about how at disneyland everyone is called a "cast member" no matter what job they do. Everyone is watched and everyone is important! That is just like the gospel. We are all cast members and we are all on stage all the time. We are all important in this work. As members of the church we stand out from the rest of the world and are to be a light to them!! The Lord trusts us with His children. We are to always be in the image of the Savior. I love you all and I hope you have the most amazing week. Sorry for the picture overload. 

Love, Sister Godderidge

We matched at zone conference.. you cant tell but we are wearing the same skirt:)

tracting in the rain.. there are two sister godderidges, can you tell!?

We mowed a members lawn! it was the best! 

our chinese friends

supper with the elders and some members.. our ward has two tripans! its crazy! 

MLC 

we had fun doing sister naunas hair! 

GNG

July 30, 2018

Hello family and friends! What a crazy week it has been. Sister madsen made it home safely to Utah and my new companions made it to me. It is quite the experience being in a tri-pan. I am still trying to get used to it! I think it will take a whole transfer! It is going to be great though! We already made up a "Companionship name".. GNG:) 

 I just want to tell you about my companions because they are so great. You know a lot about sister gatten since we were already companion for 3 months, it's a litttle weird being together again but it is so great! I am excited to learn even more from her!

Sister Nauna is our other companion and I mentioned last week that she is from Paupa New Guinea. I want to tell you all of the things I have learned about her in the past few days. 

She has been on her mission for almost a year now and knew zero english before. So we are still helping her with her english! 

She has hardly any communication with her family. They dont have email. The only way she can communicate with them is through her grandpa's facebook and even that is not very often. She was able to talk to them over the phone on christmas and mothers day. 

She waited for her mission call for 4 years!! She sent her papers when she was 19 and didnt go on her mission until 23. Talk about patience!! 

She lives on an island called Baru and they speak a few languages. THe main one is talk pigeon. 

Her family has not been able to be sealed in the temple because it is too far away. She is the only one who is endowed and she went trhough the temple for the first time in the MTC. 

She has so much courage and strength. Her testimony is quite amazing! I dont know if I could do it if I were her. I know there is a reason we are all companions and that it will be challenging but we will learn a lot from eachother! 

We also saw some miracles this week..

While we were doing service at a soup kitchen this week one of the ladies that helps with us told us that she found a book of mormon in her library and is going to start reading it!! 

Also we walked into church yesterday and a family from taiwan just moved into our ward! They know english and mandarin so they can hopefully help out with our chinese investigators!! 

The first day with my new companions we were out one afternoon stopping by some former investigators. We had to get back to our apartment because the elders were delivering another mattress to us so we were walking back to our car and we saw the cutest house! Even though we were running late we decided to knock on it just for fun. We did and a guy answered and he was super familiar with mormons. He asked us where we were from because he has family and friends who are members! He has friends that live in RICHMOND, UT!!! I dont know if anyone knows them but they are Heather and Paul Dobson. Anyway, that was super cool!! 

This week in my studies I came across a scripture that I just love!! 

D &C 58:27-28 

"Verily, I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward." 

If we are anxiously engaged in a good cause we will be blessed and bless others:) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!! Enjoy the pictures! Sorry there are so many!! 

Love, Sister Godderidge

I will try to remember what they are.. 

chinese investigators

district meeting

my new companions and old companion

winnie the pooh came from winnipeg! 

we went to a park with the sisters on pday

sister madsens last district meeting!

shout out to my wonderful dad:) 

The rains came down

July 23, 2018

Hello family and friends! Sister Madsen and I had a great week here in Winnipeg. It was her last full week as a missionary. She goes home this week which is so crazy! This transfer went by very fast. I will be staying in the waverley ward next transfer and I will be getting 2 companions!! Sister Gatten and I will be serving together again and we will have another sister with us. Her name is Sister Nauna and she is from Papua New Guinea. Hopefully I spelled that right. It will sure be interesting to see how it goes with a tri-pan. I am excited for what the transfer will bring! 

We had interviews with President Hitchcock this week so that was great! Since the Hitchcocks are living in our ward boundaries one night we were tracting and we made a goal to tract into them... We didn't, that would be pretty funny if we did though. Maybe next transfer!

It also rained a lot this week! And of course it rained only at the times we were outside. We got pretty soaked a couple of the days. We had some funny looks and comments from people though. After one lady told us she wasnt interested she said, "Aren't you guys getting wet?" as it is pouring rain. I looked at sister madsen, turned to her and said, "yeah, we are." She just shut the door and didnt say anything after that. We had another kids answer the door. He was probably around 17 or 18. He told us no and then looked at how hard it was raining and looked at us, you could tell he felt a little bad. Then he asked, "Don't you have a rain jacket or something.?" I looked down at my jacket and back and him and said, "Yeah i am wearing one" haha people are funny. We had fun in the rain though and it was nice to not be so hot! 

Another funny experience. We walked up to a guy and it looked like he was planting something in a pot. We asked him what he was doing and he said, "I am planting seeds for some flowers." I thought it would be clever to say,'That's awesome, we are planting seeds as well!" He didnt find it too amusing, he just looked at me like I was weird. 

We did see another awesome miracle this week! We received a call on Thursday afternoon from a number we didn't recognize. We answered and it was a guy named Thomas. He said that he had sisters tract into him about a year ago and give him a pass along card. At the time he was going through a trial in his life but he didnt want to let the sisters in... Fast forward a year later and he was on Youtube and he came across a mormon ad. He remembered the sisters and thought it was maybe a sign or something that this was something he should pursue or learn about because he is again having some hard experiences in his life at the moment. So he called us and asked if he could meet someone from the church! Of course we said we would be more than happy to meet with him and set up a time to meet at the church. Another miracle to go along with this... We were struggling to find fellowship so that we could meet with him, after called 11 members of the ward we finally found someone that was available! So we were able to meet with him and had a pretty good lesson. Although he is having a surgery this week and wont be able to meet with us or come to church for a few weeks. So hopefully he will continue to have the spark and interest and read the book of mormon in the meantime! 

Something that President Hitchcock said stood out to me this week. He said, "I'm not pretending to be like Jesus, I am TRYING to be like Jesus." I was then reading Elder Bednar's talk from the last general conference and he said, "As we come unto and follow the Savior, we increasingly and incrementally are enabled to become more like Him." I think there is a theme here that we need to be constantly striving to become like our Savior. This doesnt mean to pretend to be like him but as we sincerely seek and strive to obtain Christlike attributes we will be able to become more like Him and be much happier in any circumstance!! 

Love you all and hope you have an amazing week:) 

--

Love, Sister Godderidge

Lots of pics again this week! 

I love winnipeg!! 

I also love my family.. and my blanket!

caught in the rain! 

they were digging up the road so we got very muddy and wet trying to get through

matching shoes!

the sight for the temple. they are finally making some progress!

We tracting a street called "Farwell" in honor of sister madsen leaving since it is really close to "farewell". the street sign was in someone's yard since they were tearing up the road. 

we also found a street named "Frank". We took a picture in honor of our good friend Frank from Warroad who was baptized almost a year ago! We both taught him!